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Adams 2021?
Brooklyn Beep makes his case
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. File photo
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, M BTR MAY 28-JUNE 3, 2021 15
BY ARIEL PACHECO
As the issue of crime continues
to rise in the city, leading mayoral
candidate Eric Adams today pushed
back on the idea that only mental
health professionals should answer
calls where there is a mental health
crisis, without the assistance of a
police offi cer.
Adams’ comments came as he
sat down with the Schneps Media
Editorial Board, where the current
Brooklyn Borough President
touched on several topics ranging
from affordable housing to crime to
rezoning.
“That to send only mental health
professionals is reckless and that is
irresponsible,” said Adams. “Every
call of a mental health person is not
merely that someone is feeling depressed.”
Adams pointed to instances
where incidents did turn violent and
says there needs to be a combination
of the two.
“If the call for service is dealing
with a person that is not violent, no
imminent threat or danger, have
a mental health professional go,”
said Adams. “We should also have
that police offi cer on backup just in
case.”
Adams looks to fi x the affordable
housing crisis through various
methods like basement apartments,
apartment sharing, and lived sharing
spaces that are used in parts of
Europe. This is also part of his plan
to help with homelessness, where
Adams says he wants to retrofi t hotels
and move away from shelters.
A real-time system will be built
that would analyze the pool of apartments
that are currently built, but
where the Area Median Income
(AMI) is too high.
“We need to think not outside the
box, but we have to destroy the box,”
said Adams.
Adams is in support of the SoHo/
NoHo rezoning plan. The plan
would add affordable housing to two
of the more affl uent neighborhoods
in the city.
“We’ve had an improper approach
to affordable housing in this
city. We’ve upzoned poorer communities,
ignored affl uent areas. I say
let’s upzone those areas as well as
42nd street to 14th street, from 9th
avenue to Park avenue.”
He says this would solve multiple
problems like diversifying schools
that are segregated.
“We can get a better return on
our investment by upzoning these
areas.”
Adams believes the Brooklyn-
Queens Expressway (BQE) fi x
should come from state funding, but
if it does fall in the hands of the city,
jobs can be created to “reimagine”
the BQE. This would include putting
it on the ground level, submerging
it in some areas, and creating a
park over the structure.
“This is an excellent opportunity
to rethink how we’re gonna use that
BQE.”
Adams placed a focus on creating
a new position, Deputy Mayor of Effi
ciency, to ensure that city agencies
are on the same page and communicating.
He says this would allow
for everyone to be in the same room
when solving problems.
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